Witcher: Master Kiliman’s Grand Ambitions-Chapter 26: Witcher

The elf beauty’s body stiffened for a few seconds.
She could recognize the flirtation, brazenness, and certain innuendo in the Witcher’s tone.
However, Valessa seemed to have already made some decision before this conversation.
She didn’t refuse the Witcher’s proposal; instead, she met Kiriman’s gaze with a somewhat complicated look, then propped herself up, took hold of the man’s hand, and, walking toward her house, whispered:
“Then, Witcher, you really must satisfy me!”
“Or else, I won’t let you off.”
...
What a strange night.
Kiriman, who had stayed up all night, felt not the slightest fatigue; instead it was as if his bloated soul had run a sweat-soaked marathon and come back refreshed.
Even the slight soul damage from absorbing Kourgrin’s soul last time seemed to have been healed by this session of cultivation.
He glanced at his status panel: his Soul Ascendance had reached 15/100, and he couldn’t help but feel moved.
The elf beauty—fantastic! Absolutely incredible!
Those voluptuous long legs, that pudding-like set of abs and the mermaid line—after a whole night of sweetness, he still felt unsatisfied.
Whether pure-blooded elven souls were innately different from human souls, or whether Valessa’s strength was simply extraordinary, the effect she brought to Kiriman was clearly stronger than what ordinary people like Mrs. Judith provided—one session granted five points.
Unfortunately, this special soul cultivation could only be endured once per month by the other party; otherwise, even without the Witcher armor issue, he could have stayed in this village for months.
In the following period, Kiriman stayed at Valessa’s home; they slept together, shared a bed, clung to each other passionately, and had the time of their lives.
As previously agreed, he went out by day to clear monsters and earned pay according to the number slain.
At night he turned into an indefatigable workhorse, cultivating the fertile ground that was the elf beauty, earning goodwill points.
Although he couldn’t cultivate soul and body simultaneously, that didn’t stop his physical training, nor did it prevent the two of them from practicing physical techniques at night to deepen their bond.
This time, perhaps because they had grown quite intimate, or because he was adept at pleasing her, or maybe Witchers were simply predisposed to mooch off soft targets, Valessa stopped sending only a single elven warrior to guide him on monster hunts. Instead, she dispatched a full seven-member elven warrior squad to assist him.
Although the elven warriors weren’t specialists at fighting monsters, they were familiar with forest terrain, precise with their bows, and extremely agile.
They excelled at reconnaissance, driving, encirclement, and pursuit in the woods.
With these elven warriors’ support, Kiriman went daily to the densest monster zones, sparing no effort, no potions, and fighting despite injuries; his monster-slaying efficiency skyrocketed, earning him roughly a hundred soul points almost every day.
This near-maddened slaughter made the accompanying elven warriors both admire and fear him; their looks toward him changed.
Finally, on the eleventh day since arriving at Ammonite Village—and the eighth day living at Valessa’s—his total soul energy had astonishingly reached fifteen hundred points.
That morning, Kiriman didn’t go out hunting, claiming he needed to rest his body at home.
Of course, that was only an excuse.
The real reason was that he planned to level up, to spend the soul energy he had recently accumulated.
He glanced over the skills on his system panel.
[Temerian Military Swordsmanship]: Mastery level, Strength +0.2, Agility +0.2, to advance to Grandmaster requires 100 soul points.
[Viper School Swordsmanship], Level: LV2, Strength +0.4, Agility +0.4, Burst Force +2, Special Skill: Adrenaline Surge, current level cap LV3, next level requires 500 soul points.
[Alder Magic Sign], Level: LV1, Spirit +0.1, Mana +0.3, Special Skill: None, current level cap LV3, next level requires 200 soul points.
[Igni Magic Sign], Level: LV1, Spirit +0.1, Mana +0.3, Special Skill: None, current level cap LV3, next level requires 200 soul points.
Auxiliary skills: Witcher Alchemy LV2, Monster Harvesting LV2.
Six skills in total: two sword arts, two signs, and two Witcher auxiliary skills.
After a brief thought, Kiriman’s target quickly became the skill with the lowest level cap: [Temerian Military Swordsmanship].
“Deep blue!”
He spoke softly.
Give me some points!
As he issued the command, his total of fifteen hundred soul points immediately dropped by one hundred to fourteen hundred.
Simultaneously, the [Temerian Military Swordsmanship] line on his skill list blurred for a moment and then changed to:
[Temerian Military Swordsmanship]: Grandmaster level, Strength +0.4, Agility +0.4, Combat Presence +1, Combat Intuition +1.
Seeing the attribute change made Kiriman frown slightly.
Then a mysterious, vigorous power instantly flowed into him, strengthening his body in a peculiar way—almost like a euphoric high—leaving his mind a little dazed.
After several dozen seconds, his body was soaked in sweat, and his skin felt sticky and clammy, redolent with a strong sweat smell.
Kiriman stripped down to just his shorts, sat cross-legged in the middle of the bedroom, and resumed a half-meditative state.
He had expected the boosts to strength and agility, but the Grandmaster sword art’s extra increases—Combat Presence and Combat Intuition—were more ethereal attributes.
Could this be the fabled return-to-basics?
Still, presence and intuition were valuable attributes—those unique to masters.
If he had time, he could learn other mundane sword arts too; the soul cost was small and might yield side benefits.
Seeing the military swordsmanship could not be leveled further for now, Kiriman turned his attention to his only Witcher-exclusive sword art, the Viper School swordsmanship.
“Deep blue, points!”
Clang! Clang! Clang! Soul points plummeted like flowing water.
Five hundred soul points were spent, cutting his total nearly in half and leaving him with a hollowed-out feeling in his soul space.
The [Viper School Swordsmanship] option blurred, then presented new attributes.
[Viper School Swordsmanship], Level: LV3, Strength +0.8, Agility +0.8, Burst Force +5.
Sword Technique: Tremor (Tier 1).
Special Skill: Adrenaline Surge.
Current level cap LV3; cannot advance for now. Next level requires 1000 soul points.
Again that mysterious, overwhelming power burst from his soul space into his body.
This time the sensation was even more intense than before.
His body began trembling violently, his heart pounding so hard it felt like his blood vessels might explode.
After roughly two minutes the sweat covered him again; the smell of sweat grew stronger and a black grime even formed on his skin.
But Kiriman paid no mind to that; he seriously inspected his skill panel—specifically the Viper School Swordsmanship entry.
Setting aside the other attribute increases for the moment, what on earth was Sword Technique: Tremor (Tier 1)?
What kind of attribute was that?
Just as he wondered, many images automatically surfaced in his mind—abilities he had often used instinctively in combat but never paid attention to.
That was it: Sword Technique — Tremor!